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During an interview with analysts yesterday CBS CEO Les Moonves answered questions regarding the Apple TV platform claiming CBS is open to talks regarding the Apple TV depending on “What we get paid.”

Analyst’s questions centered around CBS adding support for the Apple TV in light of Hulu finally landing on the platform. Moonves response is representative of how many television networks view streaming devices, and non-cable subscription services: “We’ll consider it as long as the deal is on our terms.”

Anthony J. DiClemente — Barclays Capital, Research Division
Okay. And then one for Les. You — I’m sure — you may have seen that Apple TV added Hulu onto its platform this week. I’m just wondering, when you think about Apple, are you in any way philosophically opposed to offering CBS on the Apple TV platform? And I know I — just from prior experience, I’m sure your answer will have something to do with getting paid for your content. But more specifically, is there anything you need to see or specifically anything you need to get in order to be convinced that that’s a smart strategy for CBS?

Leslie Moonves
Look, Anthony, you’ve — we’ve had this discussion many times before. You’re right, it depends what the terms are, it depends what we get paid for. It depends on what effect Apple TV would have on either our advertising, our syndication or our retrans, which are our three main buckets of revenue for our content. So if it fits in well, like Netflix did and Amazon did, we’re happy to discuss it. If it doesn’t and we’re — they’re using our content to build a business, we’re not quite as favorable to that. So the devil is in the details. I know it sounds like a pat answer, but it’s really true.

It’ll be interesting what sort of pressure Apple can put on networks, movie studios, and other syndicated content creators/providers in the coming months. Apple was able to successfully bend the record labels to their liking, but the television and movie industries are completely different beasts. Not only does Apple have to deal with the content creators, they have to circumvent the cable companies, which in some cases own the networks (NBC and Comcast). Apple may be the largest most influential consumer brand in the world, but that might not be enough to redefine how content is distributed to your living room.